this day in icelandic history — The Reykjavik Grapevine %

Bringing The Breakbeat To Book

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It’s a Wednesday afternoon and I’m passing the time at Prikið while waiting for Karl “Kalli” Tryggvason, DJ and member…

Thirty-Three Percent Of 2009’s Thirty-Three Look Back, And Forward

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January of 2009 was an interesting month for Icelanders. The nation’s economy had just TOTALLY COLLAPSED along with its worldview,…

Embrace The Crazy

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Ragnar Kjartansson and Markús Þór Andrésson discuss Icelandic art in 2011When we last spoke to artist Ragnar Kjartansson in the…

Egilsstaðir: Austurland’s Little Big Town

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Did you know that eastern Iceland kicks ass? Sea monsters! Trees! Reindeer burgers! What’s not to love? And you don’t…

Significant Music Of 2011: Writers’ Picks

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Bored of year-end lists that usually don’t even manage to tell half the story, we decided to attempt a different…

Grafarvogur Has A Hidden History And Some Treasure To Boot!

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As a kid I used to love visiting the district of Grafarvogur, mainly because Reykjavík’s garbage dump was located there…

A Tiny Piece Of Freedom

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Palestinian poet and journalist Mazen Maarouf has been given sanctuary in ReykjavíkMazen Maarouf—who has lived all his life as a…

Getting Rid Of ‘The Man Behind The Curtain’

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Before we begin, let’s just go ahead and acknowledge the illustrious, dazzling elephant in the room: Björk. She’s always there….

Rudolph the Medium Rare Reindeer

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Fjalakötturinn is Hotel Centrum’s corrugated conjoined twin. Despite the faux-antique exterior, the buildings are riddled with cultural heritage within and…

Sour Grapes & Stuff

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I was wondering if anyone out there has noticed how piss-poor the health care is in this country?  I´m from…

Vie For Stuffed Polar Bear

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Several different parties are all in competition with each other to be able to take possession of the stuffed remains…

Breiðholt: Where You Kick Cans Or Lampposts

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If you have been wondering whether an old school ghetto can be found in Reykjavík, the answer is ‘sort of.’…

Iceland As It Should Be

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“Is he Swiss?” asks a person in the back row. “No, I think he‘s Estonian,” replies another. The man on…

Reflections On The IMF Conference

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On October 27, I attended an international high level conference entitled “Iceland’s Recovery: Lessons and Challenges” at Harpa, Iceland’s new…

YAIC 2K11: A REPORT

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You Are In Control is an annual gathering in Reykjavík that brings together key figures from the Icelandic and international…

AN ICELANDIC MODERN MEDIA INFERNO

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In Iceland journalists can be prosecuted for citing a public court case. Yes, in Iceland, that co-uld be ‘defamatory’… The…

Youth Group Seeks To Fight Racism

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A youth group entering its twelfth year hopes to fight racism in the next generation of Icelanders by bringing together…

Sour Grapes And Stuff

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MOST AWESOME LETTER: to: the girl eds…. yer fussing about a asian tourist hotel in niceland? errrr,. iceland? Hotelling is…

“Iceland’s Recovery: Lessons and Challenges”

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Harpa, Iceland’s new mega opera house, emblematic for the boom and bust of  the country’s economy in 2008, was the…

First Foreign-Born Woman In Parliament

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Alternate MP for the Social Democrats Amal Tamimi became the first foreign-born woman in the history of the Icelandic parliament…

Occupying Image

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As an American, I have spent the better part of the Obama administration being secretly jealous of my country’s fringe…